Looking for a job while the market is down is one of the most frustrating things I’ve done.

EVERY day (well mon-fri, I take the weekends off!) I spend anywhere from 2 to 10 hours (usually 4-5 hours) searching and searching for work. I hunt through Indeed, Workopolis, Glass door, the JobBank, Monster, Recruiter sites as well as a few company specific sites (I have a “watch list” of specific companies that I think would suit me perfectly and I check in on them regularly). I have literally applied for hundreds of jobs over the last 6 to 18 months … that’s a big spread, maybe I should explain …

In Oct 2015 (18 months ago) I was laid off due to the slump in the economy, the bust part of the boom and bust cycle. Although I had some issues with my micromanaging, spying, arrogant manager, I loved everyone and everything else about my job. It broke my heart to be leaving my “Dream Job”. I spent the next 6 months going through the job searching process until I landed a job at (the corrupt) JOBHP in May 2016 … which after only 2 days, I discovered was a HORRIBLE place to work.

I immediately carried on my job search, but as I had a job, as despicable as it was, I was a little more picky in my hunt. In Oct 2016, I was fired before my probation period was over… Sum up … I was better at my job than the spoiled favourite, she didn’t like me because of it, I was called into HR as a witness to a harassment case being investigated on my immediate manager, interviewed by the HR personnel who is of course her (the manager’s) FRIEND, and I told the truth about the abuse suffered by ALL from that bitch manager, then (a couple weeks after the HR thing) my grandmother passed away and I took an APPROVED leave to go “home” for 2 weeks. 3 days after I returned from my grievance leave, I was fired….You can read a longer version here…

Thanks to JOBHP, my Anxiety went through the roof and thanks to 18 months of job searching, 13 of which I spent unemployed, Depression set in…I hide it, but it is there. Every minute of every day … Do you know how hard it is to get out of bed to get ready for an interview while depressed? Do you know how hard it is to be in an interview while in a depression? Do you know how hard it is AFTER the interview with Anxiety? Hard, Harder, Hardest.

So, back on point, I have literally applied for hundreds of jobs over the last 6 to 18 months, I have been on dozens of interviews including 3 with companies on my “watch list”. I fail. Over and over I fail. I am so nervous in my interviews that I end up bombing them (that bombing means to fail miserably, to not do well, to lose … not literal “bombing”, for fuck sake, you morons). I actually had a small handful of interviews that I thought went amazing…but still got the big … “yeah, sorry, your not what we are looking for”. You know, I actually had one process that carried on for 3 months, all the while being told repeatedly that they were very interested in me but had a few more interviews scheduled, just to be told in the end that they decided to not hire anyone, because no one “fit their criteria” ….What the actual fuck! “Dance little puppet, dance!” And that is ALWAYS the response…you didn’t fit our criteria, you don’t have enough experience. Here is some advice Employers … STOP FUCKING LYING TO US!!! We can not improve ourselves with no information on what we need to improve. If you wanted me to literally beg for that position then fucking tell me. If I was too jittery in the interview (due to nervousness, not heroin withdrawal!) then tell me that. Maybe you thought I wasn’t prepared because I was so nervous, say it! Maybe you just didn’t think my personality would fit in with your “stick up their ass” employees, Say so! Not enough experience in a certain area, point it out. Be more specific, “you don’t meet our criteria” is not a fucking reason, it is a cop-out …because if I didn’t meet your criteria…why did you call me in for an interview??? (As a side note … in all the interviews I have gone to, one actually gave me legit feedback. It was nice…well as nice as constructive criticism can be. lol. But I truly appreciated it.)

So seriously, I think they want you to get on your fucking knees and beg. “I want this job more than anyone else, please, please, please, pick me, I will do anything, see I am on my knees …..”. Seriously. Like they say “it’s not who you know, it’s who you ….”